


She sure is pretty, you sure are grinning

by like_a_bird_that_flew



Series: Child Ballads (of the Songbird and Poet) [3]
Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: But they help each other, F/M, Fluff, Not Canon Compliant, Pregnancy, implied sexual content but not explicit, slight angst, they both have insecurities, they made it out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 07:31:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20467328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/like_a_bird_that_flew/pseuds/like_a_bird_that_flew
Summary: Five months into her pregnancy, Eurydice and Orpheus have a heart to heart about the insecurities they are experiencing.(Best if you read it with the rest of the series)





	She sure is pretty, you sure are grinning

On a cold night in the middle of the winter, a young couple lay awake in their little cottage, listening to the light snowfall outside. The girl was now 5 months into her pregnancy; her belly growing every day. They were ecstatic, of course, but unbeknownst to the other, they both were experiencing a slew of anxieties about the whole thing. The girl’s fears were centred around her swollen stomach in particular.

Eurydice had never been too bothered about appearance in the past, she was usually too hungry to worry about such inconsequential things. However, this was a whole new change for her, and although she knew it was ridiculous she couldn’t help feeling waves of insecurity from time to time.

She mostly put it down to her changing hormones. The majority of the time, she loved her new figure; amazed that her and Orpheus’ love had created something so wonderful, and proud to show it off to the world.

But every so often doubts would creep into her mind, usually about whether or not her husband loved her new body as much as she did. Deep down she knew this was ridiculous. Her sweet, loving Orpheus never saw her as anything less than a goddess, he was physically incapable of it. Over two years into their marriage and he still looked at her like she was the sun, moon and stars combined. The fact that she was now carrying his child only made him worship her more; taking every opportunity he could to wrap his arms around her waist from behind placing his hands on her belly, press kisses to her neck and tell her she was gorgeous. However, for the past week or so he had seemed distant and hesitant to touch her like he once had.

That definitely didn’t help matters.

The boy’s fears were caused more by his past, his childhood to be precise.

Orpheus was thrilled to be a father but he was also terrified of it. Although he had grown up to be a loving and kind person, his abandonment by both of his parents had definitely left some scars on his psyche. Mainly, it made him scared that he'd end up the same as them. That he would let Eurydice and their baby down.

These thoughts scared him more than anything. Even more than Hades himself. Eurydice was his everything; his first and only love, his wife and now, the mother of his child. The baby wasn’t even born yet but he still loved it more than life itself. The thought of anything happening to either of his loved ones made him sick to his stomach.

He had had a conversation or two with Mister Hermes about this issue; usually, when the thoughts became overwhelming but he didn’t want to worry Eurydice, the last thing she needed was more stress. So on several occasions, he had ended up at his old guardian's house at an ungodly hour pouring his heart out about his perceived inability to be a father.

And every time without fail the God would tell him that he was nothing like his parents, and wouldn’t let his family down. Ultimately Hermes told him to tell his wife about his fears, knowing that she was the only person who could truly calm Orpheus down.

However, what Orpheus didn’t know was that his lover had been dealing with her own insecurities.

One night, all of their negative feelings came to ahead. As they were laying in bed together they both spoke at once:

“Do you still find me attractive like this?”

“I’m scared I’ll be a bad father”

“Wait what,” they both said in unison, moving to sit up and look at each other properly.

“Why wouldn’t I find you attractive? You know I think you’re beautiful.” He asked, shocked that she would even ask such a thing.

“What do  _ you _ mean you think you’ll be a bad father? Orpheus, you’re the kindest, warmest person I’ve ever met.”

They simply stared at each other in silence for a moment.

“I guess we both have some issues to work through, huh?” Eurydice mumbled, looking down at her legs.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Orpheus took one of his wife’s hands in his and cupped her cheek with his other.

“Sweetheart, what did you mean? Why wouldn’t I still find you attractive?” He asked softly, coaxing her to meet his eyes.

“You know from the moment I met you I’ve always thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen”

“Yeah, but I don’t exactly look like I used to,” she said while gesturing at her baby bump.

“Wait that’s what this is about? You think I wouldn’t find you attractive because you’re pregnant?” His look of shock was quickly replaced with one of sadness.

“I know it’s stupid” Eurydice mumbled, “I just can’t help thinking it sometimes”.

“Eurydice, you’re as gorgeous as you were the moment I first laid eyes on you, maybe even more so,” he said, taking both of her hands in his.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re carrying our baby; I’m in awe of how strong you are, not to mention that you’re glowing brighter than ever before”

She smiled slightly at that, leaning into Orpheus’ soft touch.

“You really think so? 

“I know so. What’s brought this on anyway? You’ve never been insecure about this kind of thing before”

She blushed deeply and looked down at her hands again.

”It’s okay, baby girl you can tell me.”

“It’s stupid really.” She started

“I’m sure it isn’t, I’m listening” he reassured her.

“It’s just that it feels like we’ve not been as involved … physically, as we usually are.”

It was Orpheus’ turn to blush. He hadn’t tried to be distant at all.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t touch me as much anymore” she confessed shyly.

“And when was the last time we made love?”

Orpheus thought about it for a moment and she was right. A good two weeks or so had passed since they were last intimate (which was certainly out of the norm for this passionate young couple). To say he was horrified by this revelation would be an understatement. 

“Eurydice, I’m so sorry. I never meant to act distant, I was just so scared of hurting you or the baby” he panicked. 

“What? But Orpheus, you’re always so gentle in everything you do; you couldn’t hurt us even if you tried” she said whilst taking his hand to rest on her tummy.

“Is that what you meant when you said you thought you’d be a bad father? Did you think you’d hurt our child?”

“I’m scared I’ll let you down. Both of you.” He exclaimed.

“My parents abandoned me, what if I end up being like them? I let you down before, what if I do it again?”

“Orpheus, you have to stop beating yourself up over that, going to Hadestown was my mistake, I chose it-”.

“Because I couldn’t provide for you, what if I can’t again?”

“Orpheus, the fact that you’re worried about this, proves that you won’t; that you’re already better than your parents.”

Orpheus felt a strange sensation under his palm. The baby was kicking.

“Do you feel that?” She smiled.

“I do” he grinned in awe, not able to take his eyes off her stomach.

“They know that you’re their daddy, and they already love you so much”

He leant down to lift her shirt and kiss her tummy. 

“I love you too, little one” he whispered against her skin, desperately hoping the baby could hear him.

“Look Orpheus, I know you didn’t have the best childhood. Neither did I. But what that means is, we can do everything in our power to make sure that our son or daughter doesn’t go through the same thing. As long as we make sure that they know they’re loved, everything is gonna be okay.”

“You really think so?” he asked, looking up at her.

“I know so” she replied; repeating his words from earlier, then pulling him up for a long kiss. 

As they kissed, he lifted Eurydice onto his lap, her giggling against his lips as his arms wrapped around her waist pressing her close against his chest (well as close as her bump would allow). He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.

“Now if you’ll let me, I believe I need to remind my beautiful wife just how much I love her” A wicked glint in his eyes as he spoke.

Eurydice was excited now. It wasn’t often that Orpheus took the lead like this.

“I’m all yours, my wonderful husband” she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and threading her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

He gave her one last sweet kiss before quickly but gently, laying her out on her back and leaning over her.

The two young lovers were going to be just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Sorry about the long-ish wait between chapters, chapter 4 should be up soon since I've already written most of it.  
Comments are always appreciated!
> 
> The title is from the song 'Out of Pawn' by Anais Mitchell


End file.
